Guest Contriubtion by Randy Thom Acoustic Authenticity Versus Entertainment Value When designing a set for a film, the art director tries to use what is good about the real world place where the scene will be shot, but also tries to avoid being straight jacketed by what is there. The cinematographer usually has a similar approach in deciding what to shoot and how to shoot … [Read more...]
Time
Guest Contribution by Randy Thom I'm on a plane from San Francisco to New York, May 3, and I see that the Designing Sound theme for May is time. Two notions relating to time and sound design come to mind. One is that fiddling with time in storytelling is always a playground for sound. Jumps to the past or the future in a movie swing the door wide open to using sound in … [Read more...]
The Sound of “Apocalypse Now”
While there have been numerous videos and interviews on the sound of "Apocalypse Now", Andrew Quinn's posted two awesome videos on his blog, featuring discussions between Walter Murch, Francis Coppola and the rest of the team. It does show how important collaboration, ideation & conflict is when trying to achieve what is best for a film. Also featured are interviews with … [Read more...]
Walter Murch: “The Perfect Sound Film has Zero Tracks”
Wise words of Walter Murch: I think it's generally misleading to say, "Well, that sequence had eighty tracks, it must be great." Ideally, for me, the perfect sound film has zero tracks. You try to get the audience to a point, somehow, where they can imagine the sound. They hear the sound in their minds, and it really isn't on the track at all. That's the ideal sound, the one … [Read more...]
Creating Film Sound: An Interview with Richard Beggs
Matteo Milani of U.S.O Project has published the first part of a fantastic interview with sound designer Richard Beggs. They talk about several things, including previous projects, specific sounds/scenes, and also technical/philosophical stuff. Richard Beggs, sound designer and re-recording mixer, has worked in his career with directors like Francis Coppola, Ivan Reitman, Mel … [Read more...]
Walter Murch Special: Apocalypse Now
Walter Murch was the sound designer and sound editor for the known film Apocalypse Now, a classic film with fantastic sound editing and magical sound design. There is an interview at Salon.com with Walter Murch, who talks about the sound of Apocalypse Now and the techniques he used. When did you and Francis know that you would key so much of the movie off the sound of the … [Read more...]
October's Featured Sound Designer: Walter Murch
For Octuber, I'll make an special of Walter Murch, a master known for his fantastic work as sound editor/sound designer for several years ago. He make a lot of innovations and has received several awards for sound of amazing films such as The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, The English Patient and many others. Bio Walter Scott Murch is an film editor/sound designer, the son of … [Read more...]